Southampton will welcome Chelsea to St Mary's in the Premier League on Sunday (30 October).

Where to watch

Kick-off is set for 4pm GMT. Catch the highlights of the match on Match of the Day 2 on BBC One and BBC One HD at 10:20pm GMT.

Overview

Southampton welcome in-form Chelsea to St Mary's on Sunday with both teams unbeaten in their last five and three league games, respectively. Claude Puel will have his task cut out when Antonio Conte's team visit, but will be confident after they managed to hold on for a point when they played Manchester City last time out in the Premier League.

The Saints have a lengthy injury list and are without Shane Long and Ryan Bertrand for the game against the Blues, but the latter faces a late fitness test following his recovery from a hamstring injury. Southampton are in ninth place on the table and can go above Manchester United with a win over Chelsea.

Diego Costa
Diego Costa will return to the starting XI after Chelsea's loss against West Ham in the EFL Cup on the bench Getty

The Stamford Bridge outfit are one of the form teams in the league and have scored nine goals in their last three games, which has seen them beat Leicester City, Manchester United and Hull City. It was their humiliating loss against Arsenal that kick started their campaign and a win over Southampton will see them return to the top four and be just one point behind joint league leaders Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Their most recent game was a London derby loss to West Ham United in the League Cup, but it was a much changed team. John Terry, Willian, Michy Batshuayi and Oscar are likely to return to the bench with Diego Costa, Pedro, Victor Moses likely to return to the starting lineup. Conte played a 3-4-3 for the EFL Cup, but is likely to return to his 3-5-2 formation for the trip to the south coast.

What managers say

Claude Puel: It is a fantastic match for my players on Sunday. The most important thing is we play our game. We know they're a great team with the capacity to perhaps win the title. It will be tough."

Antonio Conte: There are five teams who are very close but we shouldn't look at the table, we must be focused on our work on the pitch. It's too early to talk about the table or the title. We must improve game by game and trust in the work, that's the most important thing."

Betting Odds (betfair)

  • Southampton to win: 21/10
  • Draw: 11/5
  • Chelsea to win: 11/8

Team News

Southampton

Possible XI: Forster; Martina, Fonte, Van Dijk, McQueen; Clasie, Romeu, Davis; Tadic, Redmond, Austin.

Chelsea

Possible XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz; Moses, Matic, Kante, Alonso, Pedro; Costa, Hazard.

Premier League